The Discourse
One knows a contracted mind as being contracted, and a distracted mind as being distracted. One knows an exalted mind as being exalted, and an unexalted mind to be unexalted and knows a surpassed mind as being a surpassed mind, and an unsurpassed mind as being an unsurpassed mind. One knows a concentrated mind to be concentrated, and an unconcentrated mind to be unconcentrated and knows a liberated mind as liberated, and an unliberated mind as being an unliberated mind.
For one day please study and thoroughly digest all the commentary in this attachment including the balancing of the five spiritual faculties. Also, please review the following mind states as described below until you are clear on the differences. We will be working with these mind states shortly.
Commentary
A contracted mind refers to one filled with fatigue, lethargy, slowness of response, hesitation, inward withdrawal, dullness, depressed, not able to engage with objects, collapsing inward, etc.
A distracted mind refers to one filled with restlessness and distraction, agitation, flightiness, thrown outward, desirous of change, etc.
An exalted mind and unsurpassed mind refer to the mind reaching levels of deep absorption and tranquility that arise through concentration. The body correspondingly feels very light.
An unexalted mind and surpassed mind refer to the mind at the level of sense sphere consciousness. (It is not in the state of deep concentration and it is focused on sense experiences.)
A concentrated mind refers to the mind being either partially or fully absorbed (access concentration), which includes having enough momentary concentration sufficient for insight meditation.
An unconcentrated mind refers to one neither partially nor fully absorbed nor not having enough momentary concentration for insight meditation.
Liberated mind refers to the mind temporarily freed from greed, hatred, and delusion either due to insights or to the suppression of the hindrances through concentration. It does not refer to the attainment of any of the stages of enlightenment.
An unliberated mind is one that is not free from greed, hatred or delusion.
Ongoing Practice – Five Spiritual Faculties
To reach the more exalted mind states and to avoid becoming entangled in the less skillful ones, we need to balance the “five spiritual faculties.” These faculties are mental qualities that we develop as we practice. They are best thought of as 2 pairs and the balancing factor of Mindfulness.
The first two are faith (confidence) and discrimination/discernment. If there is too much faith, we may become emotionally carried away by thoughts of devotion or we may develop unreasonable expectations regarding our self or our teachers. On the other hand, if there is too much intellectual discrimination or discernment, it may turn into undue skepticism and prevent us from confidently moving forward with our practice.
Concentration and effort are the other two factors that need to be in balance. If there is an excess of concentration, the mind may become too tranquil and find it difficult to extend the effort required to generate insight. If there is too much effort without a sufficient degree of concentration (calm), the mind may become agitated and unable to focus, which would prevent us from seeing things as they really are.
It is the practice of Mindfulness that is responsible for balancing each pair of mental factors. With its nonjudgmental stance, and nonconceptual basis, the quality of mindfulness is perfect for the task at hand. When we mindfully notice that the factors are not working in harmony, we merely apply the appropriate measure (increasing one side of the equation), to achieve the desired balance. I know this sounds easier than it may be but working with this balance is our practice!
For example, if there isn’t enough faith/confidence, we can increase our confidence by reading the Buddha’s (or another meditation master’s) instructions and inspiring words. If there isn’t enough discrimination/discrenment, we can increase our focus on seeing the impermanent or selfless nature of experience. If there isn’t enough concentration, we can stop our insight practice and focus on concentration for a period of time. If there isn’t enough effort, we can reflect on the preciousness of this life, and how we do not know how much longer we will be able to practice to realize full liberation from suffering.
From Ayya Khema, a Buddhist nun and meditation teacher who died in 1997:
“The Buddha compared these five factors to a team of horses with one lead horse and two pairs that are pulling a wagon. The lead horse can go as fast or as slow as it likes, the others have to fall into step with it. The pairs have to be in balance with each other, otherwise if one goes faster than the other, the wagon will topple.
The leading faculty is mindfulness. It is up to us how much of it we can find in any given moment. Mindfulness is a moment-to-moment mental factor which can be compared to an observer. If we have an observer with us all the time, it is more likely that we will stay on the path.
The first pair that has to be balanced is faith/confidence and wisdom/discenment. There is an analogy that the Buddha gave for these two qualities: he compared faith to a blind giant who meets up with a small, very sharp-eyed boy, called wisdom. The blind giant, named faith, says to the small, sharp-eyed boy named wisdom: “I’m strong and can go very fast, but I can’t see where I’m going. You’re small and weak, but have sharp eyes. If you will ride on my shoulders, together we could go very far.” This tells us that faith without wisdom, while being a strong faculty, is yet unable to find the right direction. We say “faith can move mountains,” but being blind, faith doesn’t know which mountain needs moving. However coupled with wisdom, there is enormous potential. The reason for such strength, is that heart and mind are brought into harmony. The mind can have wisdom and the heart can have faith. When heart and mind are brought to a point of co-existence, of no separation, the power which develops, is far greater than just 1 + 1 = 2. It is more like 2 to the power of 2.
Faith as a quality in the heart has such great value because it is connected with love. We can only have faith in something or someone we love or care about. Faith is also connected to devotion, which is a giving of oneself and a lessening of pride. These are valuable and necessary spiritual qualities. If we are devoted to a high ideal such as Buddha-Dhamma-Sangha, then we have the understanding that there is something greater than ourselves.
The devotion we can have for that ideal is manifested in giving our love and admiration, respect and gratitude, which are very important and helpful qualities to develop.
But the Buddha taught that blind faith is useless. Blind faith means that one believes what one is told without personal investigation, that one has faith in something that one’s family adheres to, or because it has been written down in special books, because it has been transmitted from teacher to disciple, because it is something that one likes anyway, that promises some mystical revelation, or because the teacher is a respected person. All these are no reasons to follow a spiritual path. Do not believe because somebody told you so! But if there is some wisdom in the mind, and without it life would be quite unbearable, we can quite easily investigate whether our faith and devotion are justified.
The other pair is energy/effort and concentration. It’s not physical energy that’s needed, but rather mental energy, which has little to do with the capacities of the body. We need unwavering determination for this practice, which is transformed energy. The Buddha compared us with the man who’s wearing a turban that is on fire. Obviously, if a man is wearing a turban that is on fire, he is most anxious to get rid of it. That same kind of determination is needed to practice diligently. Energy is also dependent upon one-pointed direction. We realize what is most important and don’t vacillate between social life, social action, practice, entertainment and the many other options open to us. Everybody has more energy for those things they like. We have to be very careful that we don’t use up our energy searching for pleasant sense contacts because we like them. We have to be attentive to the fact that pleasant sense contacts are so short-lived they will never give us complete satisfaction, and that we’re using up our energy without getting any real fulfillment. So it turns into a waste of our energy.
If energy/effort is not coupled with concentration, it becomes restlessness and we can notice that in meditation. Sometimes there is no concentration, yet there is a lot of energy. Then mind and body become restless; we would like to jump up and run away. If concentration is too strong and there is no energy, then the third hindrance arises, namely sloth and torpor. That is also easily noticeable in meditation. People who are used to concentrating and can do it well, may occasionally lack energy, and consequently concentration becomes conducive to sleepiness. That is a time when the meditation should be directed towards insight, rather than calm.
Calm meditation which is pure concentration, may result in sleepiness when there is not enough energy. But insight meditation, with attention on impermanence, the constant arising and ceasing of thoughts and feelings, may bring up the energy that is needed. As we only have a limited amount of vigor, we have to use it in the best possible way. Most people do not realize that energy is a great asset and squander it on totally irrelevant activities. When we realize that it is essential for the spiritual path, then we may become more careful with it. As the body gets older, physical energy is reduced, but that does not have to include mind energy. On the contrary. When the body is young and full of vigor a lot of physical activity may take place, and the mind may be neglected. In a older person when body activity becomes less, the mind may receive most of the attention, and mental energy could be increased.
Energy and concentration have to balance, primarily in meditation. When these faculties become “powers” (a buddhist spiritual term for the development of the faculties), they result in the meditative absorptions (deep states of concentration and tranquility). When discernment/wisdom becomes a power, it means insight into the three characteristics of impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and corelessness (anatta). When faith develops into a “powe”r, then it manifests as the four immeasurable emotions (brahma viharas): loving kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita), equanimity (upekkha). Mindfulness is a power when all four foundations (i.e., mindfulness of body, feeling, volition and thought content) are habitually attended to. To become a master of all of these aspects is an ideal but to practice them is a necessity. And since all of us have these faculties innately within, there is every reason to cultivate them. One finds oneself a more harmonious and balanced person, with less difficulties, capable of helping others. To develop these five faculties should be a primary object in one’s life. The balancing of them needs to be seen as connecting heart with mind. “
Mindfulness
When a student begins to practice, they are classically taught to work with unskillful mind states in one of several ways:
1. To reflect on the danger of maintaining that unskillful state of mind (which encourages the mind to let go of that mind state). We use this technique first.
2. To focus on the opposite mind state (for example, changing thoughts of hatred to ones of loving kindness) since there can only be one object of consciousness. This is the fallback we use next.
3. To examine the causes for its arising so that new causes can be put into place is our next line of defense.
4. To use great effort and even mental force in subduing the mind state. This is our last stand! When we use this we fight with all our might using “mind on mind” as the suttas say, to overcome the unskillful mind state.
However, in the Satipatthana discourse the teachings are much deeper and more powerful. We want to simply apply bare (mindful) attention to witness the mind states as they are manifesting within consciousness.
Our minds do not need to be completely free of those unskillful states in order to practice. The noticing of those states without judgment, decision or commentary is actually the most effective and transformative way to practice.
As we have discussed many times, we are not trying to change the mind. Trying to do so only embroils us in a mental conflict that reinforces the states that we are trying to change. Have you ever noticed all the tricks the mind uses to circumvent our purest efforts? It just seems to have the subtlest tricks up its sleeve!
We do not need to be concentrated to practice mindfulness of consciousness. We merely want to be mindful of when the mind is either concentrated or not concentrated. There is no reason for us not to be mindful!
THERE IS NOTHING OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF PRACTICE.
HOWEVER THE MIND IS, WE WANT TO KNOW IT.
Can you hear that? Are you beginning to truly understand the qualities and importance of mindfulness for attaining freedom?
During Sitting Practice and Throughout the Day
While sitting, continue to use the breath as the primary object. For the rest of the day, continue to be mindful of whatever you are doing. Really mindful! Really, really mindful!
For this meditation, we need to know directly and completely when the mind is contracted or distracted, as described above.
Recognize when either of these two mind states are present. Please remember that we are not trying to overcome them. We want to observe them non-cognitively, to become directly aware of the experiences of contraction or distraction free of labels or concepts. We want to isolate the experience and pay single-minded mindful attention to them when they arise.
All mind states, including contraction and distraction are impermanent. We want to become fully mindful of these experiences so that we can stay with them until they pass away. At that moment the mind will neither be contracted nor distracted.
When the impermanent nature of these states it is seen, the mind will be rooted in non-delusion, spiritual understanding, and wisdom. This is the arising of liberated mind. Become mindful of this experience as well in order to cultivate an awareness of living in freedom.
In a similar manner as described for the contracted and distracted states (*reread the above instructions), become mindfully aware of the exalted and unsurpassed, the unexalted and surpassed, concentrated and unconcentrated, liberated and unliberated mind states.
As Ajahn Mun, one of the first Thai forest monks has said, “When the mind is known, the Dharma is known. Knowing the truth of the mind is the attainment of nirvana.”
Please take time this month to contemplate and practice these priceless teachings.
Finally, to end please contemplate the following verses from the Dhammapada. The peace, clarity, and letting go that is found in these teachings isn’t found from “getting“ anything, it is simply found by releasing our grip and therein we find the balance of the middle way.
‘He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me’
— for those who brood on this,
hostility isn’t stilled.
‘He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me’ —
for those who don’t brood on this,
hostility is stilled.
Hostilities aren’t stilled through hostility,
regardless.
Hostilities are stilled through non-hostility:
this, an unending truth.
